The View When The Irish Catholic is published this week, there will be just 18 days before abortion is imposed on Northern Ireland by the Westminster Parliament, unless the Northern Ireland Assembly is reformed by October 22. This will happen against the wishes of the elected MPs who take their seats in the House of…

The View As I write this, I am wondering what will happen next at Westminster. Parliament will be prorogued within about ten days. Prorogation means the end of a parliament. When we come back by October 14, we will have a speech by Queen Elizabeth II which will contain the government’s proposals for the coming…

The View   Unless the Northern Ireland Assembly is reconstituted and an Executive is formed on or before October 21, 2019, abortion law in Northern Ireland will change utterly on October 22, 2019. 66% of women and 70% of 18-34-year-olds in the North said in a recent ComRes opinion poll that they did not want…

Some years ago, a dedicated, active, hardworking, popular priest who ran marathons for the hospice in his spare time, found himself experiencing something he had not anticipated, and did not recognise.  He described those days as a time of “crisis in my ministry…my work was consuming me. I was too busy. Self-care and time off…

The View   I had the privilege of accompanying the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to the Royal English College in Valladolid in Spain two weeks ago.  It is a beautiful and fascinating place, founded after the Penal Laws and the persecution of Catholics during the 16th-Century made the training of priests in England impossible.…

The View   Easter for me is a time of great mystery. This Easter Week I find myself reflecting on all that we experienced doing those brief three days. Now we celebrate the Resurrection, but, for all of us, as we carry on through life’s journey, the carrying of the cross continues and will continue,…

The View   The recent four-day meeting on child protection in Rome raised very high hopes. It was almost inevitable that some of those hopes would be dashed. The Pope had articulated clearly what he wanted to do. The three themes of responsibility, accountability, and transparency were well chosen – they are key for any…

The View   I always like to keep my Christmas decorations up until the feast of the Epiphany. The 12 days of Christmas are a very important time, and indeed in many countries gifts are not exchanged until January 6 – recognition of the fact that we commemorate on this day the arrival of the three…